Hey, folks. I'm shutting down the computer now, to break things down and move back to Hamilton. There may be a few days (heck, there already have been) with no word from me. Moving conditions shouldn't be all that troublesome, but you never know. Add to that my attempt to sell my current computer and purchase a laptop, and you have a series of events lined up that may conspire to keep me offline for a few weeks. But never fear! Your faithful blog correspondent will return (and better than that, he will revamp his site!).

...how much I love living in Canada? No? Then perhaps this will explain why I haven't been driven to gush:

Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war. She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defense system.

"We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators.

Now watch this. Denial:

Parrish, who had to apologize for her "bastards" remarks last year, at first denied using the word idiots...

Backtracking:

...and when reporters pointed out they had her remarks on tape, she said: "I don't mean Americans are idiots."

Pleading:

Parrish then begged reporters not to use the remarks: "Please guys don't put that on tape,' she said. 'I already got into trouble once.... Really, please, I've had enough trouble."

This is called (aside from stupidity, and among other things) immaturity. It's like a small child who has been caught doing something that she wasn't allowed, and it bears a remarkable resemblance to John Kerry's response to the Swift Vets' accusations. After attempting to shut them up with legal action (bonehead political move, anyone?), the Kerry campaign tries to change multiple parts of the story, before finally asking President Bush to tell the mean Swift Vets to stop hurting them.

You are not just wrong, you and those like you are intellectually insufficient and morally suspect. Why do you hate our country? Think of the children. God said to tell you that he is not pleased.

Stop interrupting me while I'm shouting. Feel the crushing weight of my arguments, which are built on logic and constructed from facts that are sturdy and sound. You just whine about how you feel.

Your information is flawed because it came from a source I know to be aligned with the forces of darkness. I am able to parse the media and edit what I see for bias and spin, while you are a gullible sap who believes everything you see on the TV or read in that wholly discredited rag you just quoted.

You speak in cliches, slogans and sound bites. I speak in pithy phrases and time-tested words of wisdom. You call names, I tell it like it is. You are vulgar, I am colorful.

My candidate is a hero. Yours is a zero. One cannot compare the youthful hijinks of my guy with the youthful wantonness of yours. My guy makes mistakes, yours commits sins of the worst kind. And likes it. My guy was misquoted, or simply misspoke, while your guy was caught on tape saying exactly what I expected him to say.

All papers turned in, all tests taken, all school done. Four years (plus a summer or two...or three), and I'm wrapped at University of Toronto (graduation pending). I feel free. I'm reading books for pleasure now, instead of duty. I'm writing because I want to, not because I have to. I'm like a young bird, high in the air, with the massive expanse of earth beneath, and I've got two conflicting and simultaneous reactions: I rejoice in the beauty of the landscape, and I tremble in fear at the fall.

It's funny. I was talking to a friend last week, in the class before my first final, and I said that I was ready now for an education. As much as I thought otherwise before University began, I wasn't actually ready to learn. I was ready to learn how to learn, and that's what I (hope I) did. Now that I know how to learn, I'm out into the world with...not a whole lot. That's the paradox of higher education. The best teacher is experience, and the primary lessons you learn at university are not found in the classes themselves, but in the spaces between. So here I am, exiting a place of higher education ready to be educated.

Brian B. revisited a conversation that he and I had on Friday afternoon. It was quite an enjoyable thing, as I rarely get to go toe-to-toe live and in person on issues like this - it just doesn't usually come up. Plus it was really nice, because Brian and I are good friends, and I knew there would be no chance of a rift opening up (as there wasn't back when we had our other disagreements). Anyway, I'm kinda in the middle of studying for my final final (heh, wordplay), so I don't have time to rebutt in depth, but as fortune (or Providence, whichever) would have it, Bob Tarantino has done it for me.

[T]he government should not be involved in content-based prior restrictions on speech, whether that speech comes from an individual standing on the corner, an American corporation jamming the airwaves with, let's see, Amish people visiting South Central, a Qatar-based company providing a news servive or any-freakin'-body else. Which means that the CRTC was wrong to impose stringent requirements on the broadcast of Al-Jazeera, and it is wrong for it to yank the CHOI-FM license. Let 'em all in. We (er, the people) are not simpletons. We can figure out what we want to listen to, and what's not worthwhile. If speech content violates the Criminal Code, then perhaps criminal sanction should be sought (although that, in itself, is a vastly complicated issue, which I'll set aside for now). Government is simply not justified in banning content, and is not equipped to make decisions about what I (or others) should or should not see, read or hear.

Keep in mind, this doesn't address Brian's specific objection - that we should stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves - but it's a good summary of my basic position on issues like this. If I can remember to do so, I will respond more precisely to Brian's argument at a later time. For now, though, it's back to study!
-- posted byAustin @ 12:28 AM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

In The Home Stretch

It's coming to a close, my university career,
And as the finish creeps into view,
I gasp and I groan
I stretch and I moan
And just barely see the end through.

Two finals down today, and my last test tomorrow at 2pm. I should be finished by 5 or so (or sooner, if the test goes particularly well). Then it's crash time.
-- posted byAustin @ 9:05 PM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Another Test

Here's another test post...to see how Blogger handles Post Titles.

{Note: Still not sure why putting tags in the post title affects the display of my name. But other than that (which won't occur in the new schema), this experiment was successful, in that it allowed me to see what can be accomplished.]
-- posted byAnother Test by Austin">Austin @ 10:51 PM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶

A Test

This is a test of your browser's text-rendering system.

To view this entry as it was meant to be seen, download and install this font. It's a nice typeface, and I might wind up using it on the 'new site,' so you should pick it up now and save yourself the trouble of downloading it later.

[Note: One of the nice things about Mac OS X Panther is the new Font Book, which allows you to easily install any font-type imaginable. There is no longer any such thing as a "PC-Only" font. Very, very cool.]
-- posted byAustin @ 1:18 AM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Updating The BlogRoll

Lots of new links in the BlogRoll of late, but I've been too busy to make you aware of them.

Hey, folks! Just poking my head above water to gasp for air, before plunging into my last few papers. Whew!

I also have to admit another motive for piping up: here's why John Kerry's decision to make Vietnam the foundation of his campaign might have been a mistake. It's all over the 'Net now, and I remember reading that it will air in the States starting on August 5th (that is, today), but I just thought I should call it to the attention of my own meager readership, as well.